Be Aware of Avalanche Danger Levels and Understand Avalanche Problems

fter a quiet start to the season avalanche danger levels are creeping up, and more and more people are heading higher into avalanche country. Skiers, snowboarders, scramblers and ice climbers have been joined by snowshoers, and now fat-tire bikers are starting to spin their wheels into Challenging terrain. In order to help you be more aware of the forecast Danger Level and to help you interpret the forecast we have added two features to the righthand sidebar of our website.

The first is a live graphic of Danger Levels for Kananansskis and Banff-Yoho-Kootenay areas. You can now see the forecast Danger Level at a glance. Click on either graphic to go to the avalanche forecast.

The second is a link to a mini-web-site that presents one-page summaries of the avalanche types identified in the Forecast as being potential “Problems”.

At the bottom of each page is advice on how best to manage the problem. I have listed what I consider to be the most important points — there are many more possibilities. When you are reviewing each problem presented in the forecast, be sure to read the advice given by the forecaster.

It is useable on all devices from smartphones to computers and may be accessed from our home page. Here is a direct link to Avalanche Problems.

I hope these additions helps you to be aware of current Danger Levels, and get the most out of the Avalanche Forecast.